80% of 2024 likely Washington voters support ending child marriage, NPI poll finds

Eight out of ten like­ly 2024 Wash­ing­ton vot­ers are sup­port­ive of adopt­ing leg­is­la­tion that would put an end to child mar­riages in the Ever­green State, a poll recent­ly con­duct­ed for the North­west Pro­gres­sive Insti­tute has found.

80% of 700 like­ly 2024 Wash­ing­ton State vot­ers sur­veyed by Pub­lic Pol­i­cy Polling for NPI in Novem­ber of 2023 expressed sup­port for enact­ing leg­is­la­tion that would require both par­ties to be at least eigh­teen years old to legal­ly marry.

A mere 14% were opposed, while 6% said they were not sure.

It’s very rare that we find the vot­ing pub­lic in Wash­ing­ton this unit­ed behind pend­ing state-lev­el leg­is­la­tion, but it goes to show that even in polar­ized times, there are areas of bipar­ti­san, cross-ide­o­log­i­cal agreement.

End­ing child mar­riage is one of the North­west Pro­gres­sive Insti­tute’s 2024 leg­isla­tive pri­or­i­ties, and it has a first-rate cham­pi­on in State Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Mon­i­ca Stonier, who intro­duced House Bill 1455 last session.

Fit­ting­ly, HB 1455 received no oppo­si­tion what­so­ev­er when it appeared on the House floor last year, reflect­ing the deep and strong sup­port for end­ing child mar­riage that we can now see in our research polling.

Regret­tably, HB 1455 stalled out in the Sen­ate due to a mas­sive log­jam of bills that sen­a­tors weren’t able to ful­ly clear due to time constraints.

(Unlike Con­gress, Wash­ing­ton’s bicam­er­al Leg­is­la­ture is only in active reg­u­lar ses­sion for 105 days in odd years and 60 days in even years.)

But since bills from odd year ses­sions car­ry over to even year ses­sions, Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Stonier does­n’t have to start over with a new bill. The House can sim­ply send HB 1455 back over to the Sen­ate a sec­ond time, where Law & Jus­tice Chair Man­ka Dhin­gra — a North­west Pro­gres­sive Foun­da­tion board­mem­ber — is ready to hear it and report it out with a “do pass” recommendation.

HB 1455 could be on Gov­er­nor Inslee’s desk in a mat­ter of weeks if the Sen­ate fol­lows the House­’s lead this time and approves the bill unanimously.

Our research shows Wash­ing­to­ni­ans are very enthu­si­as­tic about HB 1455.

Here’s the exact ques­tion we asked and the respons­es we received:

QUESTION: Wash­ing­ton State cur­rent­ly does not pro­hib­it mar­riages in which one or both par­ties are under the age of eigh­teen. Do you strong­ly sup­port, some­what sup­port, some­what oppose, or strong­ly oppose pass­ing a law to end child mar­riage by requir­ing that both par­ties be at least eigh­teen years old to legal­ly marry?

ANSWERS:

• Sup­port: 80% 
  • Strong­ly sup­port: 64%
  • Some­what sup­port: 16%
• Oppose: 14%
  • Some­what oppose: 8%
  • Strong­ly oppose: 6%
• Not sure: 6%